Note: This holiday season, in lieu of a traditional holiday gift guide, we'll be featuring a different LGBT organization each day for our "30 Days Of LGBT Giving." Check back tomorrow for a look at another incredible group that's working tirelessly on behalf of the LGBT community.
In the heart of downtown Ferndale, a suburb that borders Detroit to the north, you'll find Affirmations, Metro Detroit's most comprehensive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (and for their allies) community center. Affirmations, which was founded in 1989 (and run solely by volunteers), "provides a welcoming space where people of all sexual orientations, gender identities & expressions, and cultures can find support and unconditional acceptance, and where they can learn, grow, socialize and have fun."
Affirmations is not only the Motor City's premier LGBT hub, providing various services such as health and wellness programs, support groups and social activities and events for youth and adults alike, but has grown to become one of the 10 largest LGBT organizations in the U.S.
In 2007 the center moved to its current location, a state-of-the-art 17,000-square-foot building, by meeting a $5.3 million fundraising goal a year prior, which included significant contributions from Detroit's "Big 3" automakers (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler).
The LGBT organization hosted a 100-day hunger strike, which began in late July and continued through to the general election, in protest of Michigan's anti-LGBT legislation such as the inability to get married or have civil unions and lack of employment protections where someone can get fired for their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.
Affirmations will be holding its 7th annual potluck Christmas dinner for those who do not have anywhere else to go for the holiday. To learn more on how you can help this wonderful organization in Detroit for the holidays and later, visit their website and find them on Facebook and Twitter @GoAffirmations.
Before You Go
